Monday, March 12, 2018

Apple is buying Texture, the all-you-can-read subscription service (sometimes dubbed the "Netflix of magazines") that lets users in the United States and Canada call up digital editions of more than 200 magazines for a flat fee. The enterprise, which started out as Next Issue Media, launched in 2012, is owned by a consortium of big U.S.-based magazine publishers (along with a $50 million chunk owned by venture capital company KKR.) Rogers Media launched Next Issue Canada (later Texture Canada) soon thereafter, adding many Canadian titles to the menu offered to subscribers -- along with the U.S. titles. According to a story by Peter Kafka on Recode:

"Apple hasn’t disclosed a price but I’m told KKR will at least get their money back and that the publishers who started the company — Conde Nast, Hearst, News Corp and Meredith (which now owns Time Inc., another founder) — are happy with the deal."

Apple Media boss Eddy Cue said

“We are committed to quality journalism from trusted sources and allowing magazines to keep producing beautifully designed and engaging stories for users.”

[Apple doesn't usually announce smaller acquisitions, but apparently made an exception in this case because Cue was speaking at the South by Southwest conference this week in Austin, Texas.]